Cape Town - A ruling by the North Gauteng High Court on Tuesday means that Eugene de Kock, Clive Derby-Lewis and Janus Walus could now apply for parole, Eyewitness News reported a lawyer as saying, on Wednesday.

EWN reported that on Tuesday, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the correctional services department to abolish a system of credits that allowed prisoners, sentenced to life in jail before 2004, to work towards an early release.

Lawyer Julian Knight brought the application on behalf of Cornelius Van Wyk who had been allowed to gain credits to apply for parole.

Van Wyk was sentenced in September 2004 to three life sentences for murder committed during his involvement with a right-wing organisation.

Knight reportedly said that the ruling means the correctional services regulation pertaining to this has now been struck down.

As a result people sentenced to life in jail before 2004 can now apply for parole.

Derby-Lewis and Walus have been sentenced to life behind bars for the murder of former SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani.

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